Now, That’s Funny
Trainer Rick Dutrow on racing’s shady side: “Sometimes I get beat in races, and I know something wasn’t done right. I know they can’t beat us fairly. It aggravates me. I don’t ever say anything, but I know they got over.”
Biancone Suspended
The Kentucky Horse Racing Authority has slapped trainer Patrick Biancone with a one year suspension for possession of three vials of cobra venom (DRF). Scheduled to start on October 15, the suspension won’t impede Biancone’s saddling of likely favorite Irish Smoke in today’s Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland, where Biancone was leading trainer last spring. And according to attorney Frank Becker, Biancone plans to appeal the suspension, which means horses could be running under his name in the Breeders’ Cup. Well, that’ll look terrific on World Championship Day.
Biancone was issued additional suspensions, which KHRA will allow him to serve concurrently, for possessing other illegal substances, not properly labeling medications, and not reporting that his veterinarian, Dr. Rod Stewart, possessed cobra venom. (Stewart was given a five year suspension for that violation in September.) Among the other illegal substances and improperly labeled medications mentioned in the full KHRA ruling (PDF) were sodium bicarbonate and one “injectable bottle of unknown brown honey-colored liquid marked ‘For Mythical Echo Only’ …”
When Biancone does start his suspension, he won’t be able to transfer horses to an assistant trainer or a relative for training or derive any income from his barn, as often happens in these cases, in accordance with Kentucky’s tough new medication rules (KHRA).
Update 10/11/07: Biancone has been granted a stay of suspension until his appeal can be heard (ESPN).
Biancone Barn Searched
Blood-Horse broke the story this afternoon that trainer Patrick Biancone’s Keeneland barn has been searched by the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority, which has opened an investigation:
John Veitch, chief steward for the KHRA, would not comment June 26 on the nature of the investigation or whether the search yielded anything illegal or that violates state racing regulations. Veitch said the search was conducted by KHRA personnel June 22, but also would not say what led to the search.
No comment from Biancone, currently the seventh-leading trainer at Churchill Downs with 11 wins from 50 starters this spring.
The Thoroughbred Times offers this bit of background on Biancone:
Biancone, 55, began training in the United States in 2000 after he was suspended for ten months in Hong Kong for drug positives in two horses. The Hong Kong Jockey Club also fined him in 1997 after a banned substance was found in more than 20 of his horses.
The Times also notes that the California Horse Racing Board filed a complaint against the trainer after his runner Iron Butterfly tested positive for Salmeterol following a second-place finish at Santa Anita on Janauary 7. An asthma medication, Salmeterol is used to treat recurring airway obstruction in horses and is listed as a Class III drug.
Update: Daily Racing Form reports that KHRA searched three of Biancone’s barns and his veterinarian’s truck on Friday.
Pletcher Fined, Suspended
Trainer Todd Pletcher has been fined $3,000 and suspended for 45 days by the New York stewards for a drug positive from last summer (ESPN). Tales of Glory won an allowance race at Saratoga last August and tested positive for mepivacaine, an anesthetic that has “a high potential to affect performance.” Pletcher has appealed the ruling. Whispers about the use of performance enhancing substances have long dogged the trainer, and this positive, which is Pletcher’s first, will give gossips plenty to talk about. It’s unlikely there’ll be much other fallout. As Alan notes over on Left at the Gate, trainer Richard Dutrow was sanctioned for a similar offense and,
As we’ve seen, that action hasn’t taken any wind out of Dutrow’s sails. In fact, nor has it seemed to do anything whatsoever to tarnish his reputation. He’s still spoken of highly, and he apparently isn’t losing any prominent horses that I know of.
If the appeal fails, Pletcher’s 2004 Saratoga record will be changed to 34 wins. He won 35 at the meet in 2003.
Mullins Apologizes
“I said things I didn’t mean and shouldn’t have said,” trainer Jeff Mullins said in a TVG interview on Sunday night. “Believe me, I’d take them back if I could. I didn’t mean to offend anybody.” Thank you, Mr. Mullins. Let’s put the affair behind us now. (LA Times)
Comment: I’ve been surprised by the vociferous reaction to Mullins’ remarks about bettors being “idiots” and “addicts.” Had D.G. Van Clief or Frank Stronach said such things, I’d understand the outcry. Had Mullins said these things in a horsemen’s meeting and all the other trainers around him nodded in agreement, I’d probably be offended. But all the outrage of the past week over the angry words of one trainer who’s seen his win percentage fall from 30% to 9% in the wake of a positive milkshake test seems out of proportion. This was something to laugh at and dismiss — not to get into an uproar over.
L’Affaire Mullins, Cont.
Trainer Jeff Mullins “expressed regret” today that his comments to LA Times columnist T.J. Simers last weekend offended anyone. “The conditioner said he lost his temper at Simers when they had a heated discussion outside the Mullins barn early Saturday.” Simers quoted Mullins as saying, “If you bet on horses, I would call you an idiot,” and, “I train to win and that’s all I care about. It’s not my problem [if the general public is deceived]. They ought to bring in slot machines, then we could run our horses and make a living without worrying about some crybaby calling the stewards and raising a fit.” Mullins says that Simers took these statements out of context and that they weren’t intended for publication, although he did admit that Simers asked if he could print his remarks. (Blood-Horse)
Mullins’ apology might not be enough to soothe some bettors: “I don’t want a single dollar of my mutuel handle ever going into the pocket of someone so unappreciative of my investment and blatantly denying responsibility for his actions,” writes Jeremy Plonk. “That leaves me — as a consumer — with some difficult decisions to make. Why should I bet on the tracks where Mullins’ horses compete?” (ESPN)
Related: NTRA Commissioner D.G. Van Clief called Mullins’ comments “inexcusable” this afternoon. “Anybody realizes that horse racing depends on the bettor for its livelihood … As an industry, we do not overlook and we won’t forget our No. 1 asset, which is our customer. They are valued and appreciated and we probably can’t say that enough.” (SportsLine)
Bill Handleman wishes that Van Clief’s sentiments were the message he heard from the racing industry. Instead, “What Mullins said about people who bet on horses, you hear this whispered on the racetrack every day. By certain deep thinkers on the backside … by lowly officials who could be replaced by monkeys, no one would know the difference … even by some executives, who see the horseplayer as some lower form of life that is hopelessly addicted to the game … Maybe that’s why players have been treated so shabbily over the years, because these executives feel they will come back no matter how you treat them. In unguarded moments, I have actually heard high-level decision-makers say this, without batting an eye.” (Asbury Park Press) [Many thanks to Chris Tatti for the link.]
Who’s the Idiot Here?
Trainer Jeff Mullins, perhaps feeling a little grumpy now that he’s been busted for cheating, tells writer T.J. Simers that the problem with racing is “all the addicts and idiots crying because they lost a $2 bet.” Ouch. Of course, if it weren’t for racing fans, there’d be no purse money for trainers. The cranky Mullins had sharp words for fellow trainers and racing officials as well:
“For a guy who has won as many Breeders’ Cup races as Mandella has, I’d like to see his tests…. I would think Bruce Headley’s horses are over [the testing limit] every time they run. How do we know? The testing results are never released. Headley’s sister-in-law, Ingrid Fermin, is on the [California Horse Racing Board], and ever since I claimed Choctaw Nation, one of Headley’s horses, Fermin has been after me.”
Mullins had been one of top trainers at Santa Anita, winning at a rate of 30%, until he was cited three weeks ago for running a horse with excess carbon dioxide levels (read: milkshaking). His win rate has since fallen to 9%. (LA Times)
More: Mullins brings up a legitimate conflict of interest question, writes Sherry Ross. It’s just a shame he lashed out at bettors when he articulated it. (New York Daily News)
Trainers and racing officials react to Mullins’ comments: “It sounded to me like he blew his top,” says trainer Bobby Frankel. “What he said about the bettors was inappropriate and not true. There wouldn’t be a track if there weren’t the gamblers. There are a lot of straight shooters in this game. [Mullins] made it sound like we’re all a bunch of crooks.” (LA Times)
Volume, Volume, Volume
Trainer Steve Asmussen’s stable has 180 horses and stretches from coast to coast, notes Ralph Siraco, and it’s no surprise that he blew by Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg’s record of 496 winners in one year on Saturday. “Asmussen is the Wal-Mart of horse race trainers. He is a volume dealer. On Saturday, he started a career-high 30 horses. In one day!” (Las Vegas Sun)
A Day In the Life
Of trainer Todd Pletcher. “Pletcher’s home is 3.1 miles from his Belmont Park barn. On this morning, Sunday, Oct. 17, he arrived at his barn at 4:26, but only after he had inspected both the training track and main track. Pletcher wanted to see how overnight showers affected both tracks. He was satisfied with the condition of the main track, so all workouts would be conducted there. Pletcher had 40 horses to take to the track in six sets, 16 to work, 22 to gallop, and 2 to jog.” And that’s just the start. (Daily Racing Form)
One Busy Day
“Trainer Todd Pletcher could have as many as six horses in this year’s Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships if all goes well leading up the races in the next 25 days.” (Thoroughbred Times)
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Jessica Chapel writes and edits in Massachusetts. Railbird is a Thoroughbred horse racing blog published from June 2004 to July 2019. More / Contact
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